Strike

^ This. The human element of a manager is often overlooked.

Hello, Devil's Advocate I agree with some of the views. Mourinho is no god but in the world of a football manager, you have to accept there will be some give and take. your view of his Chelsea work is very pessimistic - highlighting the fact that he already had a good team, spent a lot etc but Mourinho's Chelsea not just won the title but won it by a fair stretch. There was inconsistency only towards the end of the season when the title was practically won. It was the same in the next season as well, losing 2 games after winning the title vs United at home. As for the decline after the title winning seasons, yes there was a bit of decline yet Chelsea was a very hard team to beat. In his first 3 years, he lost only 7-8 games - all away from home (PL) He has his cons - for every Essien, there was a Wright-Phillips signed under him. Shevchencko was bad business as well and Mourinho failed to evolve from the spine that made up his first team but I think he is the man to build a team here and take us back up to 'title-challenging' level. No other manager can make the transition faster than he can for the sheer psychological effect of him returning

1 Year. Can't believe it At the time, I thought this moment got lost in the penalty drama later on. 1-0 down, what a header and what a time to get it right

Ramires will shine in a B2B role of a midfield 3. Something like this -------DM Ramires Oscar But with Mata around I don't think 4-3-3 will be pursued here

That way, there is a bias for Mourinho and di Matteo while Rafa has none of that sympathy. It is inevitable. Imagine, Mourinho comes in and starts winning a few games. People will be excited, heck people like Leif and xPetrCechx are already excited. But that is popular opinion for you. Not everyone gets treated the same way. My point was solely about Rafa though. I am not comparing what kind of a reaction Rafa and di Matteo were getting. Just based on the work he's done, I don't think Chelsea fans should be singing songs about him this Sunday. Just accept he's got the key objective - Top 4, shake hands and move on

@, "Credit where credit is due" - He did the right thing then and I remember thinking this could be the turning point when I was watching the game (2 days late) but I still don't think that 1 tactical change in a game should get much praise, especially when it was the exception rather than the rule at that time. Sure, it deserves a "fair play to Rafa. He got it right then" but nothing to change opinions about. I will not go into the comparison with RDM, as it is a different issue altogether, but you have to see why the appreciation for him was overboard - It was the Champions League. I will emphasise on the other points. Benitez has taken Chelsea into the Champions League. He proved a lot of people wrong with the late-season form Chelsea showed especially as some were calling for his head in February. But the good work at the end of the season merely corrects what went wrong earlier on.

The Benfica game played to Cahill's strength. Cardozo is not very fast and Cahill can handle Cardozo's strength. Also, the pattern of play where Chelsea sat deep suits Cahill's defensive game. He is much more vulnerable when there is a lot of space behind him for attackers to run into. He is a good 3rd-4th choice CB but Ivanovic providing cover for RB, Luiz playing in midfield and Terry's injury has seen that among our defenders, he has played the most number of games at CB. I hope this doesn't happen again. Cahill is a good backup but that's about it

This pic maybe a bit old now but I would take any DM from that list over Mikel, except Conti and Arteta obviously

They only need to be Under-21 when Qualifications start. So they can represent in Under-21 championships even at the age of 23 in some cases. I remember Milner or someone play U-21 at 23 years age

The saying goes - "In a world of the blind, the squint rules". If Mikel is to be an out-and-out starter for Chelsea, he shouldn't be compared to our other midfielders. Compare him rather with Vidal, Fernandinho, Matuidi, Gonalons, Gundogan, Capoue etc and you see a big gulf in class. Chelsea are 'settling' for Mikel at DM. Do DM's around the world go unnoticed? Ball-winning midfielders rarely go unnoticed and I thought Mikel was a ball-winner? How often does he actually 'win' the ball? We don't notice Mikel, not because he's doing his job unnoticed, It is because he is not influencing the game enough and by influence I mean Tackles/Interceptions

120 is a drop in wages after all? Financial situation has improved regardless of whether it's 100 or 120. Time to edit wage and transfer budget.

his tactical record at Chelsea wasn't good till that point. That United game was probably 1 game in 50 where his substitution was early and game-changing. Don't think he deserved much credit for getting it right one time. Overall, up until April-May, his work wasn't anything special. There is no middle ground on Benitez. He polarises opinions like no one else. There are the sympathisers who feel he could have worked. There are the haters who feel he should never have been hired. I belong to the latter. I don't like him but I grudgingly accept that he has got us top 4 (and a trophy) but that was the plan all along wasn't it? He struggled early on, then made up for it and got to the same destination.

Welcome! and Don't be put off by any 'unorthodox' welcome posts here. Everyone means well

As they say, 'An Animal is Most Dangerous When Cornered and Wounded' Jose will come here with a point to prove

That is not entirely true. When Chelsea drew 2-2 at Old Trafford, there was more praise for Rafa than the team. "Subs changed the game", "Rafa silences Man United" etc

Very small possibility of a playoff. I wonder why the dumb-heads in the FA cannot think of adding a "Head to Head". Many associations in Europe have it as the first tiebreaker

@Shogun, Wow. Muchacho who?

True that. It's a myth. Jose is not gonna come here and reminiscence about 2004-05. He will want to top that!

You better put some effort on the Opposition Views Take pointers from Muchacho last week

Left alone. Jay Rodriguez plays on the Left for Soton (seen Lambert a couple of times as well) under Pochettino and as you can expect he's left alone a lot. Can't blame Rodriguez (and Lambert sometimes) as they are basically strikers played out of position He's had a few games where he's overrun 2 on 1. example Reading, but for his age, i think it's normal for fullbacks to have testing games. Usually reliable and solid. Would love to sign him but we can't loan him to a PL club the window we sign him. So, the club has to play the waiting game I think

Hated him. Hate him. Will Hate him. Forever

Arsenal are close to signing 20-year-old Auxerre striker Yaya Sanogo. "It is in advanced stages but it is not done," manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal.com. - Wenger must be playing FM

No. Not even good for backup

I like him

Mata should be CAM but that doesn't mean Oscar should never be used there. Oscar offers much more in terms of tracking back. I would love to see Oscar played at CAM instead of Mata when protecting leads or against teams like Barca where Mata will be ineffective